God Bless Carlos Delgado

Toronto Blue Jays star one-bagger Carlos Delgado has been protesting the Iraq war by leaving the field during the playing of God Bless America. Delgado intends the gesture as a protest against policy with which he disagrees:

“But I think it’s the stupidest war ever. Who are you fighting against? You’re just getting ambushed now. We have more people dead now after the war than during the war,” he said. “I don’t support what they do. It’s just stupid.”

Delgado has come under fierce criticism from fans and pundits for this harmless and symbolic gesture. One fan said, before a game in New York:

“I think it’s totally disrespectful,” he said shortly before gametime. “It’s a slap directly in my face, as a New Yorker and an American.”

It is not. Delgado has already identified the reason he is protesting. It has nothing to do with slapping a fan in the face. Offended parties are afflicted with the disease of self-identification with the state, L’Etat C’est Moi in other words. The state is an organization which is separate from the people it rules, and which commits terrible crimes in their name. Awfully convenient then, for the criminals in charge, that many people think they are the state. What a bewildering sight it must surely be, for the blind servants of the state, uncritical and trusting of their politicians, to see someone like Delgado actually walking a different path. Delgado’s critics are afraid that he is right, and wrapped in that fear, are lashing out at him, ridiculing his courage. God bless him.